The Mood, Mother, and Infant Study: Associations Between Maternal Mood in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Outcome

We sought to determine the role of depression and anxiety in breastfeeding cessation. Participants underwent a baseline visit with a structured clinical interview in the third trimester of pregnancy. Monthly phone interviews assessed current mood symptoms and infant feeding status. We assessed the association between baseline mood and infant feeding outcomes using Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusting for infant feeding intention and sociodemographic confounders. We enrolled 222 mother-infant dyads in late pregnancy, of whom 206 completed assessments through 12 months postpartum. We enriched our study with symptomatic women by enrolling 87 women with current depression or anxiety (Current), 64 women with a history of depression or anxiety (Past), and 71 women with no psychiatric history (Never). In multivariable-adjusted analyses, baseline diagnosis was not associated with breastfeeding outcome, but baseline symptoms of depression (Beck Depression Inventory ≥11) or anxiety (Spielberger State Anxiety ≥40) were associated with earlier introduction of formula (depression: adj hazard ratio [HR] 1.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-2.30; anxiety: 1.70, 95% CI 1.01-2.87); and any cessation of breastfeeding (depression: adj HR 2.02, 95% CI 1.23-3.31; anxiety: 1.83, 95% CI 1.00-3.33), as were depression symptoms among women who were being treated with antidepressants, compared with untreated asymptomatic women (formula: adj HR 2.27, 95% CI 1.29-4.02; cessation: 2.32, 95% CI 1.17-4.61). History of childhood trauma (adj HR 1.34, 95% CI 1.12-1.61), disordered eating symptoms (adj HR 1.22, 95% CI 1.02-1.46), and poor sleep quality in pregnancy (adj HR 1.32, 95% CI 1.09-1.60) were independently associated with earlier introduction of formula. Baseline mood symptoms were independently associated with earlier formula introduction and cessation of breastfeeding. History of childhood trauma, disordered eating symptoms and poor sleep quality were associated with earlier formula introduction. Targeted support may enable women with these symptoms to achieve their feeding goals.